Apparatus for honing



Feb. 7, 1939. H. BLOOD 2,146,414

APPARATUS FOR HONING Filed Sept. 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3W JEroZJL; 3500? APPARATUS FOR HONING Filed Sept; 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 7, 1939.

3 mw 5 mm 5 NM m \\m wn QM mN mm bN Nm 3 .QN 6" PM N mu 8 Patented Feb. 7, 1939 PATENT "OFFICE 2,146,414 APPARATUS FOR HONING Harold L. Blood, Worcester, Mass., assignor to The Heald Machine Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 15, 1936, Serial No. 100,911 7 Claims. (Cl. 51-92) The present invention relates to an apparatus for honing and is particularly directed to a struc-- ture by which to compensate for the reduction 1 in size of the individual honing members as a 5 result of the honing operations.

A hone is generally made up of a plurality of honing members rigidly held to the diameter of the workpiece to be honed, and the honing members being preferably of abrasive material Igradl0 ,ually wear away until the honing surfaces no longer properly engage the work and a compensation for wear is necessary. In certain hones as, for example, in the hone disclosed in applicants prior copending application Serial No.

69,861, filed March 20, 1936, the honing meme bers are urged resiliently against the workpiece, but in this arrangement compensation for wear on the honing members is also necessary in order that the members may engage the workpiece with sufficient pressure, especially when the expanded or operative position of the hone is limited by a positive stop. The principal object of the present invention is to provide an automatic com- .pensation for wear on the honing members.

In the successive honing of a plurality of similar workpieces to a predetermined finished dimension, it is found that the several individual honing members making up the honing device gradually become worn away so that the honing members which are preferably urged against the workpiece by a spring or other resilient means,

do not exert the desired amount of pressure on the work. A longer time for each honing operation is necessary in order to remove the proper amount of material and produce the desired finishi One of the principal objects of the present invention is accordingly to provide an automatic compensation by which to maintain the operative surfaces of the individual honing members 40 in proper relation to the surfaces of the workpieces independently of the wear or reduction in size of the members, and independently of the number of honing operations between successive compensations.

'45 .In automatically operated honing machines where successive workpieces are mechanically placed in operative position, and where the honing operation is performed on each workpiece for the same predetermined time, it is essential 50 that the individual honing members be in the same predetermined relation to each successive workpiece and exert the same pressure on the surfaces being honed in order that each finished 1 workpiece may have a finished surface corre- 55 sponding in appearance and dimension to each of the other workpieces. A further object of the invention is to provide a device by which the position of the operative surfaces of the honing members may be kept uniform in relation to successively honed workpieces independently of 5 wear on the members.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- 10 Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying the invention, parts being broken away to show the machine arrangement more clearly.

Fig, 2 is a fragmentary end view of the machine of Fig. 1, with parts broken away along 5 the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation on a larger scale of one of the honing heads, partly in section, to show the construction more clearly.

' Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view corre- 20 sponding to ,a part of Fig. 3, showing the position of the hones when the individual honing in the different figures.

With reference to. Fig. l, the machine provides a reciprocatory table I mounted on a base 2 and adapted to carry either the work-support or. the 30 honing device. In the construction shown, the work-support 3 is in the form of a bracket secured to the table and the honing device 4 is mounted on a bridge 5 which spans the guideways .6, Fig. 2, provided by the base 2 for gu ding 35 the movements of the table. The table is reciprocated to move the workpieces carried by the work-support axially into and out of operative engagement with the hones and this translatory 40 movement of the table may be imparted in any desired manner, as by the use of a fluid pressure actuated mechanism of familiar construction. It is sufficient to note for the-purpose of the present application that the operative position of the table with the hone engaging the workpiece to be honed is determined by dogs I on the table alternately engageable with a re-, versing lever 8 mounted on the base. The workpiece isthus given a short reciprocation relative to the hone, when in operative position, to break up any honing lines'on the workpiece. In the operative position, the workpiece is in a position to extend around the individual honing members making upthe home and the inner surfacewf the I workpiece is engaged by said members. as in Fig. 1.

The work-support may be of any desired construction and the particular support shown, which is adapted for automatic discharge of the honed workpieces and loading of the unhoned workpieces, has a cylindrical bore 3 corresponding in diameter to the outside diameter of the workpieces. A plurality of workpieces a and a are placed in alinement within the bore with the leading workpiece a in a position to be operated upon by the hone. A spring-pressed latch it holds the workpieces against axial movement and.allows the insertion of additional workpieces at the right hand end of the bore between successive honing operations, the leading workpiece a being discharged from the left hand end of the bore as a result of the loading of an unhoned workpiece at the right hand end, the loading of an unhoned workpiece causing an axial movement of the several workpieces within the bore 3. Any suitable automatic loading device, not shown, may be used in cooperation with the table movement for loading unhoned workpieces during the run-out of the table to the right.

The machine shown is arranged to carry a plurality of work supports in alinement, with a separate honing device provided on the bridge for each work-support, as shown in Pig. 2. Since all the honing devices are similar, only one will be described.

with reference to Fig. 3, each honing device 4 comprises a housing ii suitably secured, as by bolts l2, Fig. 2, to the bridge I. A spindle I3 is journalled within the housing on suitable antifriction bearings l4, and to the left hand end of the spindle is secured a pulley II to provide for rotation of said spindle. The right hand end of the spindle has mounted thereon a honing head i3, which may be, for example, a honing head of the general character described in applicant's ccpending application Serial No. 92,896, illed July 24, 1936.

The honing head has a cylindrical hub ll which tits over the end of the spindle l3 and is in threaded engagement therewith to permit removal of the head from the spindle and substitution of a similar head of a different size or having a diiierent type of honing stone. An arbor it, with which the hub I1 is integral, has a plurality of radial slots II in each of which is positioned a bell-crank lever 33. The arbor II has an annular disk 3i secured thereto and one end 32 of each of the bell-crank levers is arcuate for engagement with said disk, the levers rocking about this point within the slots IS. The disk is held in position by a ring 33 which clamps the outer edge of the disk against the arbor l3, being held in position by suitable bolts 34 extending through the'arbor.

Adjacent the oppomte end of each bell-crank lever is positioned an arcuate protuberance which engages with a correspondingly shaped recess 23 in a hone carrier 31. The latter has mounted on its outer surface a holder 33 to which is secured a honing member in the form of a block or stone 33 of suitable honing material which may be, for example. abrasive in character. The block 33 is suitably secured to the holder 23, as by adhesive, and the holder 33 is held in place on the carrier 21 by coil sll' ngs 33 and 3!.

The coil springs, each of which is in the form of an annulus, extend around the honing head on opposite sides of the stones 33. The spring engages in notches 32 in the holders 23, the carrier 21 being similarly notched, as at 33, to cooperate with the notch 32. The spring 3i rests against lugs 34 on the holder. The coil springs not only retain the holders on the carriers, but these springs also normally tend to urge the stones and carriers radially inwardly- Axially slidable within the arbor i8, but held against turning movement, is a spindle 31 having an arcuate shoulder 33 engageable with an a'rcuate protuberance 39 provided midway between the opposite ends of each of the bellcrank levers. This spindle, which is normally urged to the right, Figs. 3 and 4, as will hereinafter appear, holds the individual honing members in engagement with the workpiece a, as will be apparent, against the tension of the coil springs 30 and 3|. A projecting stem 40 on the spindle has a cap 4| secured to the end thereof to protect the ends of the hone carriers and supports. The left hand end of the spindle 3i has an adjustable bolt 42 with a locking nut 43 for adjustment of the length of the spindle. Movement of this spindle to the left allows the hone to contract, and movement to the right, Figs. 3 and 4, procures expansion of the hone by a movement of the stones radially outwardly.

For actuating the hone, the main spindle i3 is hollow and has a centrally positioned rod 4-2 having a head 45 on the right hand end thereof engageable with the head of the bolt 42. A coil spring 46 surrounds the rod 44 and is positioned between the head 45 and a threaded collar 4i positioned within the left hand end of {the spindle i3, the rod 44 being axially slidable within said collar. The left hand end of the rod 44 is threaded and engaged by threaded nuts 43 and 49, held against relative turning movement by a pin ill and resiliently urged apart by a coii spring 5i located in recesses 62 and 53 in the nuts 43 and 48, respectively. The coil spring Si, by urging the nuts apart, creates a frictional drag to hold the nuts against turning movement on the rod 44, although allowing turning movement when a predetermined torque is applied to the nuts. The nut 43 has a cylindrical hub 54 which, when the hones are in operative position, engages with the end of the threaded collar 41 and thereby controls the expanded position of the honing stones. g

The nuts 43 and 49 are movable on the rod to allow movement of the latter a greater distance to the right, Fig. 3, for expanding the hone to compensate for wear on the blocks. Referring again to Figs. 2 and 3, a collar surrounds the hub 54 and is turnable on studs 53, Fig. 2, carried by an arm 51 having a slot 53 therein in which the collar 55 is located. The upper end ofthearm i1 is journalled on a pin 59 carried by a bracket 60, Fig. 3, secured to the housing II. the pin 59 extending at right angles to the rod 44 to allow movement of the arm 51 in a direction for procuring axial movement of the rod 44. The

The end of the bolt is in a position for engagement with the table I as the latter moves into operative position, thereby procuring a clockwise the hone blocks are in proper engagement with.

the workpiece. The nuts 48 and 48 will be normally carried to the left by the axial movementof the rod 44, resulting from the contraction of the hone by entry within the workpiece so'that the collar 55 will not engage the nut 49. As the blocks become more and more worn, however, the rod 44 will be urged a shorter and shorter distance to the left as a result of the entry within the workpiece bore, so that the collar 55 is finally urged against the nut 49, by the movement of the table to the left, with suflicient force to release the frictional drag ofthe nuts 48 and 49 on the rod and procure a backing off of the nuts thereon, the rod rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow 62, Fig. 1, to procure this relative turning of the nuts on the rod.

In the operation of the machine, the honing head and associated parts are normally in the position of Fig. 3, in which position the individual honing stones 29 are expanded to their fullest extent, as determined by the limiting nut 49 and the stones are thus in a position for engagement with the tapered internal surface of the workpiece a as the latter is brought into operative relation. The honing members are urged out wardly by the coil spring 46, as will be apparent. The position of the honing members is controlled by the nut 49, which, by engagement with the threaded collar 41, limits the outward movement of the honing members so that they are in a position for entry within the bore of the workpiece as the latter is moved from the right into the operative position of Fig. 1. In Fig. 3, the workpiece is shown just before it reaches operative position during its movement to the left into operative position. The honing members are thus fully expanded as limited bythe nut 49, and it will be apparent that in expanded position the honing members are positioned for entry within the workpiece bore.

As the workpiece reaches the operative position of Fig, 1 and is given a slight reciprocation relative to the honing members, the taper of the workpiece causes a radial in and out movement of the individual honing members which results in a slight axial reciprocation of the rod 44. At the same time that the rod is reciprocating axially, the arm 51 is oscillated through the engagement between the table I and the bolt 8|.

The oscillation of this arm has no eflect whatever on the operation of the device so long as the honing members exert enough pressure on the workpiece to produce the desired honing action, since the collar 55 does not engage the shoulder 64 on the nut 49. As the outer surfaces of the honing members are gradually worn away, the rod 44 must move inwardly to the right more and more to hold the honing members in a position for engagement with the work and, as a result, the shoulder 64 moves nearer and nearer to the end of the collar 55 until, during a honing operation, as the arm 51 is oscillated to the left, the collar engages with the shoulder 64 with suflicient pressure to procure a turning movement of the nuts 44 and 4! on the rod 44. The nuts are thus backed away slightly to allow the rod 44 to move slightly more to the right and therefore to urge the honing members radially outwardly. After a large number of compensatory adjustments, the honing members eventually reach the position shown in Fig. 4, where the members are substantially reduced in size by wear thereon.

It will be apparent that this compensation for wear takes place only as the honing members are worn away suiiiciently to produce a firm engagement between the nuts 49 and the collar 55 and that; except when this occurs, the nuts 48 and 49 are frictionally held against turning movement so that no undesired compensation or backing away of the nuts will occur. It will be apparent that the hone spindle I; must be rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow 62 in order that the spindle may be turning in the proper direction to procure a backing away of the nuts 48 and 49 when desired; a left hand thread on the rod 44 would obviously allow for rotation of the spindle l3 in the opposite direction.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the device provides for compensating for the reduction in size of the individual honing stones or members, so that the latter are always in a position to engage with the workpiece with the desired pressure, making it possible for the hone to be operative upon a plurality of successwelv honed workpieces without any manual adjustment and independently of the wear on the honing members.

I claim:

1. In a honing device, a hone comprising at least one honing member, a work-support, means for procuring a relative movement between said hone and support for bringing the hone into operative relation to a workpiece in the work-support, means for holding the honing member in operative position in the hone and means for adjusting said honing means for varying the operative position of the honing member in compensating for wear thereon, said last means being controlled by the relative movement between the hone and the work-support.

2. In a honing device, a hone comprising at least one honing member, a work-support, means for procuring a relative movement between said hone and support for bringing the hone into operative relation to a workpiece in the worksupport, means for holding the honing member in operative position in the hone, means for adjusting said honing means for varying the operative position of the honing member in compensatingfor wear thereon, and means controlled by the relative movement between the work-support and the hone for procuring the adjustment of said adjusting means.

3. In a honing device, a hone having a plurality of honing members, a rotary spindle on which said hone is mounted, a plunger movable within the spindle for urging the honing members into operative position relative to the hone, means for limiting the movement of the plunger for controlling the operative position of the honing members, said means including a nut on vthe end of the plunger and engageable with the end of the spindle, and automatically operative means for procuring a slight turning movement of the nut on the plunger for varying the operative position of the honing members in compensating for wear thereon.

4. In a honing device, a'hone having a plurality of honing members, a rotary spindle on which said hone is mounted, a plunger movable within the spindle for urging the honing members into operative pomtion relative to'the hone, means for limiting the movement of the plunger for controlling the operative position 01' the members, said means including a nut on the end of the plunger and engageable with the end of the spindle, and automatically operative means for procuring a slight turning movement 01' the nut on the plunger independently of the spindle rotation for varying the operative position of the honing members in compensating for wear thereon.

5. In a honing device, a hone having a plurality oi honing members adapted to engage the tapered bore of a workpiece, a work-supporting member for the workpiece, means for procuring a relative reciprocatory movement between .the work-supporting member and the hone tor a reciprocation oi the workpiece during the honing operation, means for resiliently urging said honing members against the surface oi the workpiece, means for limiting the movement of the members into operative position, and means (or adjusting the limiting means in compensating for wear on the members, said last means being controlled by the relative movement between the hone and work-supporting member.

6. In a honing device, a hone having a plurality oi honing members adapted to engage the tapered bore oi a workpiece, a work-supporting member for the workpiece, means 101' procuring a relative reciprocatory movement between the work-supporting member and the hone for a reciprocation oi the workpiece during the honing operation, means for resiliently urging said honingmembersagainstthesm'iaceoithework- 1 piece including a phmger movable relative to the hone, means for limiting the movement of the plunger in one direction ior controlling the operative position of-the honing members, and means controlled-by the reciprocatory movement for adjusting said limiting means when a compensation ior wear is necessary. l

7. Inahoningdevice,ahopehavingaplurality oi honing members adapted to engage the tapered bore of a workpiece, a work-supporting mber tor the workpiece; means ior procuring a relative reciprocatory movement between the work-su.pporting member and the hone for a reciprocation of the workpiece during the honing members, a rockable arm movable in response to the reciprocatory movement, and means on saidarmengageablewiththenuttoprocurea turning movement thereof for adjusting the operative position 01' the honing members when u,

compensation for wear on said membersbecomes necessary.

HAROID L. BLOOD. 

